The package from the wonderfully named Thrashachusetts Records that landed on the welcome mat of URHQ certainly roused my interest; one look at the press sheet that lay inside, waiting, caused that interest to pique...

"If you're looking for sick riffs and songs about Viking battles and werewolves then you're in the right place." I'm sold.

This self-titled, six track EP (seven track if you count the 'clean' version of one of the songs that closes the disc of destruction) is the debut release from Boston face-ripping metallers Bring The Knife, and a spirited, part-demented debut it is too.

Fronted by Duncan Wilder Johnson (a veteran singer and spoken word artist who has shared stages with the likes of Jello Biafra, Jim Carroll and Marky Ramone), gloriously described as an energetic hybrid of Johnny Rotten and Spider-man, Bring The Knife mix old school thrash sensibilities with hardcore noise and a fair spattering of Sabbath-like doom, crazed lyrics scrawled over the top of it all.

The stand-out track here, the one that tore the throat out of my stereo at any rate, is 'Werewolf Fuckdown', a beast of a song that opens with that punked-out old school thrash sound that got sadly drowned by molten metal over the years, before dissolving into a Cancer Bats-style groove - great stuff.

This, of course, came after opener 'At The End Of Days', a chugging guitar-heavy bruiser that provides a meaty introduction into the skewed world of Bring The Knife. 'Ftftftftftft...' is a snappily-titled number that opens in time-honoured Sabbath fashion before 'Viking Skull Thrust' out-dooms even that: if there is a better opening line to a song than "Screaming eagles dive from the sky" then I haven't heard it, the band actually getting a little more serious on this '80s heavy metal throwback.

Pounding drums introduce 'Thank You For Ripping Us Off', before another heavy-duty riff straight out of the '80s takes over. Intelligent lyrics give way to drums and guitar hurtling along at 100 miles per hour half way through the song, another time change further down the line causes carnage. Final song 'I Walk Through Flames Every Hour To Feel Free' closes the EP in fine style, a street brawl of gang vocals and bomb-blast drums - a molotov rocktail of a closer.

I love it when bands like Bring The Knife send their music into Uber Rock review: previously unknown to us, one trip to the Post Office has provided us with further proof that, no matter how many sticks the mainstream rock media beats us with, the underground is always the coolest, most honest place to hang out.

Also, 'Werewolf Fuckdown' is my new favourite song.

www.bringtheknife.com

www.thrashachusetts.com